Roleplaying a traitor of Eorzea

[Zaylin]

Before I ramble on and on about this; Hello!

 

As the title says; I'm interested on making my character betray Eorzea. Why? Well, two reasons, one in character of my current character. And one Out of Character. I will start by stating the Out of Character reason; I've always been a bit interested in making a "villainous" character. I see many people rise up to be the hero to save the world yada yada. But I hardly see someone play the part of being, well a villain. It could be cause it's difficult to portray. I honestly don't know. But yes, I am just that rare person who throws a curve-ball and says "Let's twist and turn things to make it fun!" 

Meow for the in character reason. 

My character Zana is innocent, however, since she ran away from home to Ul'Dah at a young age. She quickly found out that people can be as heartless and cold as much as some can be kind and loving. After years of growing up there her innocence remained. But she wasn't foolish. She knew now that once a man descends into the darkness. It's nearly impossible to bring him into the light. She also began to realize that more and more have dived into the darkness. After wandering the streets of Ul'dah. Now she's a humble goldsmith, charging people at fair prices, even if those whom sell her the materials to make items double their worth. And knows she cannot actually do anything to change Ul'dah or even all of Eorzea. 

Zana is disgusted on how the Sultana or anyone does nothing to improve the state of Ul'dah. Or at least anyone whom is a native of Eorzea. She studied the empire on what little tomes she could find. To discover how advanced and mighty they are. She began to believe that the Garlean Empire would bring a new golden age for all of the Eorzea. However, most the population loathes the Empire. For good reason too. She understands that the Legatus's goal was not to enrich, but to destroy. 

Zana began to think to herself after learning about the Garlean Empire, she thought if she could join in the Empire she could eventually become high enough rank to lead. Zana doesn't care for being a leader, but she is able to. However. To save the innocent souls from the darkness of greed she would have to. Instead of conquering Eorzea, she would become allied with them, only in desperate measures will she resort to invasion.

However. She is no fool, she knows that to do is would take years. But.. If she were to gain the trust of the empire by means of espionage and such, she could rank up faster.

This is where the conflict begins. Zana is unsure if she would really betray her homeland to save it. And should she get caught doing espionage means death.

Her friends and family would loathe her if she went through with this as well. But she also wants to save the city-states. Even if it means betrayal. 

 

I am posting this to see what are your thoughts about this. So far it hasn't been revealed in an RP or such, but I was taking a break to improve my character so yeah.

I know it's not really "Villainy" due to how she wants to "save Eorzea" but I digress.

 

Thanks for giving your thoughts about this.

[Oli!]

The only thing that I have to say about playing villainous characters is that unless their actions are 100% SOOPER SEEKRIT (more seekret than the fact that Bruce Wayne is actually the Batman), you will probably never be able to casually roleplay this character in a common setting again.

 

Lots of people in many games and many settings make evil characters, and then have them walk into public places in their Flaming Evil Shadow Armor of Supreme Doom and talk about their Evil Doomsday Plan with their Evil Doomsday Buddies in a public location of all places, and then get upset when people realize that yes, they are indeed evil, and even more upset when a tavern's worth of Heroic Crusaders try to arrest them. This sort of scenario tends to go down the tubes pretty quickly, and usually ends with everyone getting upset and multiple parties taking their balls and going home, along with a dash of "stop powergaming!" and a "you're going on the Ignore List!" or two.

 

So, if you're going to be evil, Be Smart too. Think about how an evil person would act in various situations. Would someone who's conspiring with the evil army trying to invade their world talk about their private evil plans with a conspirator in the middle of a bar? No they would not! They would go somewhere quiet and out of the way where no one would hear them. Would someone openly hunted and wanted by the law strut around in the middle of a public square with not a single thing on them that could make for a decent disguise? Absolutely not! That would be like inviting an army to take you on because you feel like you're on top of the world that day.

 

That's not to say that nobody should ever make evil characters ever. Evil is good. Without evil there's nothing for good people to punch, and if there's nothing for good people to punch, then all we get to do is sit around in taverns all day drinking ale and talking about the good old days when there were things to punch for miles and miles. So generally, if you're super set on this, I'd break What I'd Suggest You Do into two options:

 

A.) Keep It Subtle. Shifty and undercover. The entire world does not need to know that you're evil. If you're careful, you can even maintain an honest and innocent civilian life alongside whatever Doom you're brewing on the side. This also allows for other players to try and get on your case, leading to all sorts of intrigue plots and investigative goodness. This option also has the least impact on the social life of your character, assuming that that's something you care about.

 

B.) Go Public but Don't Be Dumb. Everyone likes a well-known, public villain. They're something to overcome, and they can lead to some great character development and plotlines all around. However, one must remember that there is no Off-Switch for Evil. Don't go off slaying the masses and then expect to be welcomed with open arms next time you're in town. If you are evil and everyone knows that you are evil, realize that there are places that you should not publicly go without keeping your head low (or at all), because they are literal death-traps. Cities full of well-trained guards, or taverns full of heavily-armed heroes, for example.

 

Additionally, for both cases, if a character happens to catch you off-guard, try and go along with whatever they're trying as long as it doesn't interfere with whatever larger things you have planned. I'm sure almost everybody on the boards here can tell you a story of someone who was being Evil but utterly refused to face the consequences of their actions in any way, shape, or form. If you're caught by players playing guards, go along with them and get arrested; it's a victory for them and a note in their personal storylines, plus you can always have an Exciting Jailbreak Scene later. If someone gets on your case and manages to track down your evil secret activities and threatens to tell the world, try and talk / bribe / kill your way out of it. And if things are really, really not going the way you want them to, just poke the person OOCly and tell them how they're interfering in your plot, and why you'd rather they not spill the beans / throw you in jail just yet. Communication is key! Not to mention that without players to do evil to, you'd might as well through rocks at a potato and pretend you're stoning someone to death. Oh, how evil.

 

 

TL;DR: Don't run around shouting about how evil you are, regardless of whether or not you're trying to be subtle or public. If it's public, people will know by your actions. If it's private, then you're doing it wrong. Also try to go with the flow when other people confront you. Part of being the villain is losing to the heroes.

[Cranechild]

My free company and I have been on that side since the beginning. People always treat us with the stigma of being blood-thirsty warmongers or evil plotters. But I guess it comes with the territory of being an all Garlean FC. We've been a lot of people's "villains" for a while now. and I empathize with you OOC completely.

IC it would be interesting if our paths crossed. Many garleans have caught been signing up and getting involved in our network of garleans operative in ul'dah (and beyond) and your sentiments incline with ours.

 

I'd love to RP with you and your story is right up our alley (literally as well).

Ramsus Galthens of Regnum Garlemald here.

 

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[Warren Castille]

Define "villain." What you've got sounds like a Garlean-sympathizer, not an out-and-out destructive malevolent force. She's not trying to destroy Eorzea, she's just considering that maybe Garlemald isn't so bad. It didn't help that Nael was insane and trying to LARP Majora's Mask with us, but not everyone is out to destroy! She's tapped into that. It can be a positive thing to roleplay.

 

Consider that espionage isn't such a simple thing, though. Once you get past the fact that if she judges the wrong Eorzean as reveals herself, she's liable to be executed for treason you also have to bear with the possibility of Garlemald not quite believing her, either. In order for her to get in touch with the Empire to begin defecting, she'd need contacts. I suppose there's nothing to stop her from just walking up to a Castrum unarmed and explaining herself, and there are plenty of true-to-life examples of people doing just that, but those sorts of actions never result in any sort of power. Your character could end up simply finding sympathetic assets for the Empire to perhaps contact through their own networks.

 

There's a lot of room to work with if you go that route. It helps keep things grey on the morality scale without outright throwing down and becoming a traitor. Thoughts are dangerous things, of course, but when someone you know and trust says to you "Hey, maybe things wouldn't be so bad...?" you're more likely to get interesting conflict than outright being a double-secret Garlean spy traitor. That's done to death already.

[Aldotsk]

You don't literally "have" to be a traitor to Ul'dah or Eorzea. The way you word it seems like you are one of those liberal/rebel type of local citizen. It happens. Ala Mhigan Resistance were also against Ul'dah government and the way they treat these Ala Mhigans who reside in the city.

 

Anelia was a Sultansworn who just resigned recently because she felt that Ul'dah government is just too corrupted and beyond from saving. She does not believe that Sultana is wrong here, but it's rather the Syndicates that control the system too much. She left on her own, and some Syndicates consider her as a traitor and deserter. However, ICly, Anelia has not revealed about her true reason of leaving the sworn. Now she is currently finding her way to save Eorzea and trying to aid three cities with her own methods through her company.

 

Not all rebel is considered villainy unless you intend to terrorize places down or attack people... or even starting a riot in the middle of the city.

 

Anelia would definitely hear Zana's story and opinion since Anelia was orphan who grew up in pearl streets and had her own rebellious acts against the monarchy and Monetarists until she decided to become Sultansworn like long time ago. She'd probably tell the girl that Garleans are not also good people too in terms of their conquest.

[Kellach Woods]

There's so many factions that want to slap Ul'dah in general that you don't have to go towards the big G. Ul'dah's pretty much a city of conflict and worship of the Gil. Even if you find selling them out for Garlemald (hee) isn't your cup of fancy, there's still a lot of room for such a character.

 

Just slum it for a bit, get with the Ala Mhigans, see if that takes your fancy.

 

I do have a character I might need to pull out more, but it's in contrast to yours. He pretty much hates all the Eorzean nations - he just thinks Garlemald is the opposite of a sensible solution.

[Zaylin]

Thank you all for your feedback! 

c: I enjoy constructive criticism and advise and you guys gave me that.

Lemme comment about a few things.

 

 "Not to mention that without players to do evil to, you'd might as well through rocks at a potato and pretend you're stoning someone to death. Oh, how evil."

 

This really made me giggle like a maniac.

 

"A.) Keep It Subtle. Shifty and undercover. The entire world does not need to know that you're evil. If you're careful, you can even maintain an honest and innocent civilian life alongside whatever Doom you're brewing on the side. This also allows for other players to try and get on your case, leading to all sorts of intrigue plots and investigative goodness. This option also has the least impact on the social life of your character, assuming that that's something you care about." 

 

This was generally the option I was going for; All cloak and dagger and undercover. Till she decided it was due time that she revealed herself to be a Traitor/sympathizer. c: But yes thanks for the advise Oli! 

 

"Define "villain." What you've got sounds like a Garlean-sympathizer, not an out-and-out destructive malevolent force. She's not trying to destroy Eorzea, she's just considering that maybe Garlemald isn't so bad. It didn't help that Nael was insane and trying to LARP Majora's Mask with us, but not everyone is out to destroy! She's tapped into that. It can be a positive thing to roleplay."

Well, at the beginning she is just the common Garlean Sympathizer, but as her work and the such progressed for the Empire she'd become slowly corrupted by the idea of power and eventually forget what her original plan was. Making her more of a power hungry conqueror then a savior. As a 'final showdown" with a hero character I was going to have two options play out; the Hero character convinces Zana that what she was doing was wrong and convince her to stop this pursuit of power or ultimately kill Zana. 

 

"You don't literally "have" to be a traitor to Ul'dah or Eorzea. The way you word it seems like you are one of those liberal/rebel type of local citizen. It happens. Ala Mhigan Resistance were also against Ul'dah government and the way they treat these Ala Mhigans who reside in the city.

 

Anelia was a Sultansworn who just resigned recently because she felt that Ul'dah government is just too corrupted and beyond from saving. She does not believe that Sultana is wrong here, but it's rather the Syndicates that control the system too much. She left on her own, and some Syndicates consider her as a traitor and deserter. However, ICly, Anelia has not revealed about her true reason of leaving the sworn. Now she is currently finding her way to save Eorzea and trying to aid three cities with her own methods through her company.

 

Not all rebel is considered villainy unless you intend to terrorize places down or attack people... or even starting a riot in the middle of the city.

 

Anelia would definitely hear Zana's story and opinion since Anelia was orphan who grew up in pearl streets and had her own rebellious acts against the monarchy and Monetarists until she decided to become Sultansworn like long time ago. She'd probably tell the girl that Garleans are not also good people too in terms of their conquest."

 

c: I'd love to interact with Anelia as well, mayhaps she convince Zana to find another way to save Ezorea instead of resorting in contacting the Garlean Empire. We'll see. 

 

"My free company and I have been on that side since the beginning. People always treat us with the stigma of being blood-thirsty warmongers or evil plotters. But I guess it comes with the territory of being an all Garlean FC. We've been a lot of people's "villains" for a while now. and I empathize with you OOC completely.

IC it would be interesting if our paths crossed. Many garleans have caught been signing up and getting involved in our network of garleans operative in ul'dah (and beyond) and your sentiments incline with ours.

 

I'd love to RP with you and your story is right up our alley (literally as well).

Ramsus Galthens of Regnum Garlemald here. " 

 

I was looking through the posted FCs on the forums one day and saw a Garlean FC listed, that's what inspired me to make this 'arc' in the first place. I would love to interact with your entire FC.

[Yhen Yizeh]

I'd like to RP with you. (: 

 

It could be... interesting.

[Blue]

I wish the best of luck with this, however I'd like to just throw my 2-cent here.

 

My Half-Garlean, half-Ala Mhigan character Clive Stark has a somewhat similar off-set as what you are proposing. Born in Ala Migho from a local lady and a man who had come from Garlemald as a spy, he was six when Ala Migho was invaded by the Garleans.

 

Like all the other children in there at the time, he was brainwashed and educated in trusting the Garlemald's cause, and to despite the Twelve, beastmen and Primals. Thanks to his father's connections, he was trained in the imperial army and fought as a trooper for them (though he did not partake to Cartenau battle, being dispatched elsewhere).

 

After Cartenau, Clive was suddenly evicted from the imperial outpost he was at, for reasons unknown to him, and forbidden to enter again. The Imperials have orders to push back anyone with the same tattoo Clive was branded with on the forehead (by the imperial themselves), and since then he has been living as a stray in the outlands.

 

At the present time, Clive finally left the refugees camp he has lived in to join a band of adventurers. And here comes my warning for your plan: while there was initial spite on him upon learning his past and moral (he is still highly supporting of what the Imperials do, and despites Eorzea's religion as well as anything related to the Primals), the angry feeling settled down a lot quicker than even I had expected. I wasn't treated as an evil spy as I had originally thought I would be.

 

Adventurers in Eorzea tend to be a lot more tolerant and friendly than you'd expect in a real life setting, so be prepared for that.

 

------------------------------------------

 

As a side note after all that, here's a main reason why people struggle to RP villains (aside what was said in the earlier posts already, which totally make sense). You can't really do anything that matters to be a villain.

 

You can't destroy cities, you can't steal national treasures, you can't kill players unless there is consent (and trust me, that's very rare). And people seem to have some OOC leak in which if they see you kill "just an NPC", then it doesn't make you as villanous as killing a PC would.

 

To RP an effective villain, you'd probably need to set up this scenario among close friends who already know the general outlines of the plot and will react accordingly. It's semi-scripted, I know, but so far it's the most fail-proof way.